Mary Ellis (née Wilkins; 2 February 1917 – 24 July 2018) was a British ferry pilot, and one of the last surviving British female pilots from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Mary Wilkins was born on 2 February 1917, at Langley Farm, in

Leafield Leafield is a village and civil parish about northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, west of Leafield village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 945. The village is abo ...

, Oxfordshire,Ceylan, Yeginsu
"Mary Ellis, Who Flew British Spitfires in World War II, Dies at 101"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. 26 July 2018. The only daughter and third of four children born to Nellie, ''née'' Clarke (1885–1967) and Charles William Wilkins (1885–1972). She developed a fascination with aviation from a young age, as her family home was located near

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

bases at

Bicester Airfield Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is a private airfield on the outskirts of Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. The location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page Halifax in 1939, it was used by the Royal Air Force until 2004. ...

and Port Meadow. When she was eight, the

Sir Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, Order of the British Empire, KBE, Air Force Cross (United Kingdom), AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an England, English aviation pioneer. Early life As a child he attended Wilson's School, which was then in ...

Flying Circus visited the area, and she persuaded her father to pay for a joy ride in an

Avro 504 The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro, Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind ...

. She decided she wanted to learn to fly. When she was 16 she started having lessons at a flying club in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. History The Toponymy, place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest kno ...

, successfully gained a private pilot's license and flew for pleasure until the start of the

in 1939, when all civilian flying was banned.

Second World War

In October 1941, she joined the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

(ATA), and was posted to a pool of women flyers based in Hamble in Hampshire. Over the course of the war she flew over 1,000 planes of 76 different types, including Harvards,

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

and Wellington bombers. Some of her flights were to relocate planes from Royal Air Force airfields to the frontline, and others were to ferry new planes from factories to airfields.

Post Second World War

After the war the Air Transport Auxiliary was disbanded. However, Ellis was seconded to the

and continued to ferry aircraft. She was one of the first women to fly the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

, Britain's first jet fighter. She later moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. In 1950, she became the manager of Sandown Airport, and Europe's first female air commandant. Ellis managed Sandown for twenty years, during which time she also founded the Isle of Wight Aero Club. A former ATA colleague, Vera Strodl, was hired by Ellis as the chief flying instructor. In 2016, Ellis published her autobiography: ''A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story.''

Personal life

She married fellow pilot Don Ellis in 1961, and they had a house next to the runway at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. The neighbouring resort of Shanklin and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake are sited just to the south of t ...

. Don Ellis died in 2009. Ellis died at her home in Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 24 July 2018 at the age of 101.

Recognition and commemoration

In 2017 a plaque was unveiled at

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton is the largest List of Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Air Force. Situated in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, it is close to the village of Brize Norton and the tow ...

in recognition of Ellis' and fellow pilot, Molly Rose's, "contribution to ATA". In 2018, Ellis was granted the Freedom of the Isle of Wight. Ellis was featured on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 2018 highlighting, among other achievements, solo flights where other teams consisted of eight crew. She also appeared in the documentary ''

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

'' that was first released on 15 July 2018, just days before her death."Spitfire (2018)"
imdb.com. In March 2022 the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

published a biography of Mary Ellis.

Works

*''A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story'', Melody Foreman, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire Frontline Books 2016. ,

References

External links

* 'Spitfire Sisters', documentary with Mary Ellis. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Mary 1917 births 2018 deaths British aviators Members of the Order of the British Empire British World War II pilots British women in World War II Air Transport Auxiliary pilots British women aviators Military personnel from Oxfordshire English autobiographers British women autobiographers British women centenarians